On CNN this Sunday, host Jake Tapper asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about matters including the recent characterization by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) of a bill to put same-sex marriage protections into federal law as a “stupid waste of time.” “If he’s got time to fight against Disney, I don’t know why he wouldn’t have time to help safeguard marriages like mine. Look, this is really, really important to a lot of people,” Buttigieg remarked.
The bill, if enacted, would mean same-sex marriage rights no longer rely on a Supreme Court ruling, which — as the recent undoing of Roe proved — could be overturned. It passed the House with a startling level of GOP opposition. “Our marriage deserves to be treated equally,” Buttigieg added, referring to himself and his husband, Chasten. “And I don’t know why this would be hard for a Senator or a Congressman. I don’t understand how such a majority of House Republicans voted ‘no’ on our marriage as recently as Tuesday, hours after I was in a room with a lot of them talking about transportation policy, having what I thought were perfectly normal conversations with many of them on that subject only for them to go around the corner and say that my marriage doesn’t deserve to continue. If they don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, they can vote yes and move on, and that would be really reassuring for a lot of families around America, including mine.”
Watch Buttigieg’s comments below:
Buttigieg on Republicans voting against marriage equality: "If they don't want to spend a lot of time on this, they can vote yes and move on, and that would be really reassuring for a lot of families around America, including mine." pic.twitter.com/5tvsmRuhcd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 24, 2022
The House also recently passed a bill to protect access to contraception, a right that also relies in large part on a past Supreme Court ruling. In a concurring opinion in Dobbs — the case in which the court just overturned Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas called for the court to revisit past cases that protected rights to contraception, same-sex marriages, and same-sex relationships. Although no other Justice signed onto Thomas’s concurring opinion, the mere fact the majority of House GOP’ers voted against the bill protecting same-sex marriage signifies by itself that there would clearly be a political appetite for essentially leaving same-sex marriages by the wayside. Nearly four dozen House Republicans voted for the bill upholding same-sex marriages — but there are over 210 GOP’ers in the chamber.
A smaller number voted for the bill containing contraception protections. That list included Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), John Katko (N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Nancy Mace (S.C.), Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), and Fred Upton (Mich.). If Republicans regain control of Congress this year, which would leave them actually holding that control early next year, there could be proposed legislation going the opposite direction: restricting abortion, eliminating or lessening key rights for LGBTQ+ people, and more, whether that’s threatening voting rights or, more specifically, letting certain extremist officials have more power to essentially meddle with the election outcome if it’s not in their side’s favor. There’s already been a renewed push from certain interests on the Right to essentially demonize LGBTQ+ people, as exemplified by the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill enacted in Florida that sharply restricts in-class discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity. Polling suggests the eventual outcome of the midterms will be close.
